Astros notes: Crane attends players’ wives gala

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The theme for this year’s annual Astros Wives Black Ties and Baseball Caps Gala was “A Night of New Beginnings.” Appropriate, really for the ballclub, which is in a transitional phase with the arrival of copious young players midseason.

It was supposed to be a night of new beginnings in the front office as well – Jim Crane’s first official event having been granted the rights to the Astros by baseball’s 29 other owners, but that vote never happened as Major League Baseball wants more time to background check the ownership group.

Still, Crane attended the event on the field at Minute Maid Park Thursday night, benefiting the Houston Area Women’s Center. He maintained a low profile and declined to speak to reporters, while Drayton McLane, who was in Cooperstown for owners’ meetings Thursday, did not attend.

General manager Ed Wade, manager Brad Mills, several coaches and a majority of the players attended the event that came at a time of great upheaval on the roster. Several auction items for the event, long in the planning, featured players either in the minor leagues now or traded to other teams.

Yet, the show did go on – cochaired exhaustively by Mary Catherine Melancon and Summer Barmes – and when the proceeds are totaled today, seven figures should be reached.

Rookie righthander Henry Sosa (0-2, 6.00 ERA) will pitch Sunday against the team that signed him as an amateur free agent in 2004, the SanFrancisco Giants. Sosa, 26, came to the Astros in the July 19 trade that send second baseman Jeff Keppinger to the Giants. His effectiveness in three starts with Class AA Corpus Christi and one with Class AAA Oklahoma City, coupled with the continued ineffectiveness of lefthander J.A. Happ, punched his ticket to the majors.

In both of Sosa’s major league starts, he has worked six innings and allowed four runs. Both times, Sosa had shaky first innings (five runs allowed combined). One out away from getting thought the sixth inning having allowed only two runs against the Cubs on Monday, Sosa gave up a two-run double to Geovany Soto that was the difference in a 4-3 defeat.

“I thought (Monday) night’s start was pretty good,” Astros manager Brad Mills said. “Even though he gave up the same number of earned runs as his first start, I thought this start was measurably better. You put that improvement together with his improvement during the game of his first stay, and you say, `Maybe this guy is a quick learner. Maybe the third start might be that much better. Maybe this guy is going to get
ready to settle in and be a really strong pitcher for us.’”

VictoriousWhen righthander Aneury Rodriguez picked up his first major league victory on Tuesday, it was a reminder of how much he has thrived since settling in as a reliever.

Rodriguez, acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays this past offseason as a Rule 5 draft pick, was a starter throughout his minor league career but began this season in the bullpen. He had a 6.75 ERA in nine relief appearances before joining the rotation when the Astros demoted veteran Nelson Figueroa. In eight starts from May 4-June 10, Rodriguez was 0-4 with a 5.80 ERA.

Since moving back to the bullpen, Rodriguez has put up a 2.22 ERA and a .220 batting average allowed in 15 appearances covering 24 1/3 innings. Does that mean the Astros are ready to earmark Rodriguez, 23, for a career as a reliever? Not yet, general manager Ed Wade said.

“At his age, I don’t think we have to make that determination,” Wade said. “His performance going forward will dictate more than what we’re seeing right now.

“Philosophically, I’m just a believer you exhaust all starting opportunities before you put a guy in the bullpen unless he’s a guy who has been wired as a bullpen piece from the beginning. We had this conversation internally a couple years ago with regard to (Bud) Norris. Is he a starter? Is he back-of-the-bullpen guy? Let’s exhaust all possibilities.”

Downs-Giants reunion

Infielder Matt Downs is another Astro who has more than a nodding acquaintance with the Giants organization. Though the Astros claimed Downs on waivers last August, before the Giants’ run through playoffs, he received a World Series ring.

“This is going to be a big series for them because they’re in a playoff run,” said Downs, a 36th-round draft choice of the Giants in 2006. “We’re going to go out there and play like we did the last couple of days and try to spoil it.

“I came up through their system and I’ve got a lot of friends on their side. It’s going to be neat to see everybody and catch up with
everybody.”

Off to good start

Rookie third baseman Jimmy Paredes had started 12 times in a 13-game stretch, so he got the night off – mostly, playing one inning – in this past Monday’s series opener against the Chicago Cubs. Apparently refreshed, Paredes went 3-for-7 with two doubles in the final two games of the season. Fifteen games into his major league career, Paredes, 22, is batting .296 and sports an .826 on-base-plus-slugging that is 109 points better than his minor-league norm in 392 games.

“Guys in his position, they’re not going to get an extended period of not playing,” Astros manager Brad Mills said. “But for a lot of these guys, they haven’t played into September yet in their professional careers. So we’re going to monitor them, give them a day off maybe every 10 or 12 days besides the scheduled days off.”

Bogusevic’s hot bat

In back to back victories on Tuesday and Wednesday, Astros outfielder Brian Bogusevic hit a game-winning grand slam and a two-run double.

Almost as encouraging as the results for Bogusevic was the process in those two bases-loaded at bats. Both times, Bogusevic delivered with two strikes on him.

“You like to work yourself deep into the count and see some pitches and see what a guy has and what he’s going to come at you with,” Bogusevic said. “If you can get a hit late in the count when maybe you’ve battled back or capitalized on a mistake the pitcher made, it’s good for your confidence and can keep things rolling for the team.”

Odds and endsClass AAA Oklahoma City activated righthanded pitcher Nelson Figureoa from the disabled list Thursday, freeing the Astros to release him. Figueroa, 37, began the season as the Astros’ No. 5 starter but got sent down with a 0-3 record and 8.69 ERA. In 16 games (15 starts) with Oklahoma City, Figueroa was 6-7 with a 6.50 ERA. Figueroa has a 20-35 record and 4.55 ERA in the majors. … Center fielder Jordan Schafer went 0-for-3 with a strikeout in his medical rehabilitation assignment debut (left middle finger) with Class AAA Oklahoma City on Wednesday. The Astros are planning on having Schafer return to the active roster at the start next week’s road trip to Colorado and San Francisco. … First baseman Brett Wallace entered Thursday batting .346 (18-for-52) since his demotion to Oklahoma City, with four doubles, no homers, nine walks and 12 strikeouts. … Third baseman Chris Johnson batted .273 with six extra-base hits (five doubles, one homer) in his first 33 at-bats since getting sent down to Oklahoma City, but he got hit by a pitch on the left wrist on Aug. 12. Johnson hasn’t started since, though he has been available to pinch-hit the past two days.